How to Use Twitter to Find a Job
Social media has taken over the world and it is not just for social purposes anymore. All over the world, people are using social media for some or another financial purpose. But more and more people are starting to use social media to actually find jobs.
The question, however, is how to tap into this global resource. If you know how to use twitter correctly, there are many options available to you in terms of job hunting.
Why use Twitter?
Compared to the professional job search heavyweights, like LinkedIn, Twitter often goes unnoticed. The main reason for this is because of the 280-character limitation. However, Twitter is like a man standing on a mountain and shouting into a megaphone. He doesn’t really know who will listen, but he can be sure that his message reaches far and wide. Therein lies twitter’s hidden advantage.
Twitter is all about getting short messages out to the masses and this is where a job seeker can take advantage of its broadcasting power. A job seeker can find leads on hidden jobs, network with insiders of an industry and do a little bit of research on companies and interviewers. But to take advantage of these benefits, you need a strategy.
The strategy to Use Twitter to Find a Job
To make it clear from the beginning, this is not going to be an effortless search, you will still need to do some work. The difference is that you will be casting a wider net in a very short space of time. To get things going, you will obviously need to have a twitter account. The most important button you need to acquaint yourself with is the follow button.
When you begin your job search you know exactly what field you are entering, and consequently, you will also need to know who the leaders in your field are. These are the guys you need to start following. The major companies where you would want to work at often tweet about job opportunities. The industry insiders also have a habit of tweeting about developments like branch expansions and hiring trends.
The next thing you will need to start doing is to get involved in conversations that relate to your industry. Here is where you start making your voice heard and create a presence. This is where you give your possible future employers a taste of what you are capable of.
To stay in the loop, get to know how to use hashtags #. Search for popular terms or words that are used in your industry, or words that relate specifically to your industry like #ITjobs.
Before you know it, you will have built a monster of a network and you will in all likelihood be overwhelmed by messages. The only thing that remains to be done is to start the search.
